Haskovo Province
# Haskovo Province

41°50′N 25°55′E﻿ / ﻿41.833°N 25.917°E﻿ / 41.833; 25.917

Haskovo Province (Bulgarian: Област Хасково - Oblast Haskovo, former name Haskovo okrug) is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river Maritsa. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Haskovo. The province embraces a territory of 5,533.3 $km^2$ (2,136.4 sq mi) that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 256,408 inhabitants.

## Municipalities

The Haskovo province (Област, oblast) contains 11 municipalities (singular: община, obshtina - plural: Общини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

| Municipality | Cyrillic | Pop. | Town/Village | Pop. |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Dimitrovgrad | Димитровград | 56,882 | Dimitrovgrad | 39,510 |
| Harmanli | Харманли | 25,711 | Harmanli | 18,557 |
| Haskovo | Хасково | 96,499 | Haskovo | 77,050 |
| Ivaylovgrad | Ивайловград | 6,761 | Ivaylovgrad | 3,756 |
| Lyubimets | Любимец | 10,400 | Lyubimets | 7,670 |
| Madzharovo | Маджарово | 1,800 | Madzharovo | 590 |
| Mineralni Bani | Минерални бани | 6,542 | Mineralni Bani | 1,303 |
| Simeonovgrad | Симеоновград | 9,371 | Simeonovgrad | 7,049 |
| Stambolovo | Стамболово | 6,122 | Stambolovo | 609 |
| Svilengrad | Свиленград | 24,142 | Svilengrad | 18,132 |
| Topolovgrad | Тополовград | 12,178 | Topolovgrad | 5,730 |

## Demographics

The Haskovo had a population of 277,483 (277,478 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 256,408 of which 25.8% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.

The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:

Haskovo Province :

| Year | 1946 | 1956 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1992 | 2001 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Population | 235,248 | 272,100 | 287,996 | 330,132 | 334,584 | 295,503 | 277,483 | 267,204 | 263,019 | 256,408 | 246,238 |
| Sources: National Statistical Institute, „Census 2001“, „Census 2011“, „pop-stat.mashke.org“,?? ||||||||||||

### Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Haskovo Province (2011 census) :

| Ethnic group | Ethnic group | Percentage | Percentage |
| - | - | - | - |
| Bulgarians | Bulgarians | 79.4% | 79.4% |
| Turks | Turks | 12.5% | 12.5% |
| Romani | Romani | 7.0% | 7.0% |
| others and indefinable | others and indefinable | 1.1% | 1.1% |

Total population (2011 census): 246,238 Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 227,382 persons:

* Bulgarians: 180,541 (79.40%)
* Turks: 28,444 (12.50%)
* Romani: 15,889 (6.99%)
* Others and indefinable: 2,508 (1.10%)

A further 20,000 persons in Haskovo Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

### Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:

Census 2001 :

| religious adherence | population | % |
| - | - | - |
| Orthodox Christians | 227,593 | 82.03% |
| Muslims | 33,780 | 12.17% |
| Protestants | 1,846 | 0.67% |
| Roman Catholics | 426 | 0.15% |
| Other | 1,833 | 0.66% |
| Religion not mentioned | 12,000 | 4.32% |
| total | 277,478 | 100% |
